Jesse 'LJ' Matthew was a 'person of interest' in the search for Hannah Graham

The ‘person of interest’ in the case of missing UVA student Hannah Graham admits that he bought her drinks but denies he drove off with her in his car, MailOnline can reveal exclusively - as one thousand volunteers reportedly searched for her Saturday.

Jesse 'LJ' Matthew has confirmed he met the 18-year-old in Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall on the night she went missing and bought her drinks at a local bar.

But Matthew, a nursing assistant at UVA Hospital, told his mother that Hannah did not get into his car and that the pair 'went their separate ways.'

They were seen walking through fields and bushes in an attempt to find the college student.

Matthew’s grandmother, Christine Carr, told MailOnline on Saturday: ‘I have been talking with his mother.

‘He said he went his way and she went hers. He told his mother he bought her some drinks. He said she did not get into his car.

‘The girl went her way and he went his.’

Matthew has lived in Charlottesville his whole life, where he works in the operating room of the UVA Hospital, sources told MailOnline. He is a nursing assistant who transports patients to the operating room.

His grandmother, Mrs Carr, says she instantly recognized her grandson ‘LJ’ when she watched the video tape released by police investigating Hannah’s disappearance.

She told MailOnline: ‘I saw the video tape. That is him, that is LJ. The police went through his car and his apartment.

‘They took away his car and three bags out of his apartment.’

An estimated 1,000 volunteers searched for Graham on Saturday

Hope: Volunteers wore neon jackets to aid with the search for the University of Virginia student

Search party: Two volunteers are seen near train tracks on Saturday

Mystery man: Police released this footage in their search for a man in dreadlocks. He has now been revealed to be Jesse 'LJ' Matthew, a nursing assistant at UVA Hospital

Acquaintances immediately recognized this man as Matthew

Big break: The local police chief described the find of Matthew as a 'person of interest' as a major break in the disappearance of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham (pictured)

Mrs Carr added she was confident her 32-year-old grandson, who has dreadlocks, has nothing to do with the disappearance of Hannah, who has not been seen since the early hours of last Saturday morning.

‘LJ would never hurt anybody,' Mrs Carr, 82, from Charlottesville, told MailOnline. 'I know he is a good boy. I have known him all his life.

‘I’m sure he had nothing to do with it. He is a good boy. He has worked ever since he was able to work. He has never been in trouble. He would do anything to help anybody.

‘I practically raised LJ,' Mrs Carr added. 'His mom was working and I looked after him and his sister, Nicky.

‘He had a live-in girlfriend but I don’t know what happened. They lived together at his apartment.'

Mrs Carr said she last saw her grandson on Thursday, when he visited her house along with his mother.

‘He had two bowls of greens and he took some with him,' Mrs Carr said. 'He loves my cooking.’

UVA community members raise their candles in support of the missing during a student-led vigill

Top cop: Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo talks to reporters Friday about new leads in the Graham case

Officers scoured Matthew's the building in search of evidence all day Friday

Chief Tim Longo, of the Charlottesville PD, had identified a dreadlocked man — now identified as Matthew — as the ‘person of interest’ in the hunt for Graham.

He was spotted in surveillance footage with his arm round her waist before apparently vanishing in his car together, police said on Friday.

Police believe he bought the underage girl an alcoholic drink and have 'every reason to believe' that she was with him when he left 15 minutes later in his 1998 burnt orange Chrysler coupe.

The car was searched and seized by police after it was found parked outside a housing complex on Hessian Hills Way, where Matthew lives.

Officers spent most of Friday scouring through Matthew's apartment just outside Charlottesville, located about 3 miles from the Downtown Mall where Graham was last seen.

Longo told MailOnline that investigators were carrying out a 'forensic search' of the two-bedroom apartment in Hessian Hills Way, Albemarle County.

'They will be looking for blood, hair, fibers, the things we are interested in these kind of cases,' he told MailOnline.

‘We’re interested in him,’ Longo added to reporters. ‘We’re interested in talking to him, we’re interested in his interactions with Hannah.’

Law enforcement officials have been issued with multiple warrants for properties within Charlottesville. Details of the warrants remain sealed on the orders of a judge, and will remain secret for up to 180 days, unless the judge changes the ruling.

Chief Longo described the finding of Matthew's apartment as a 'big break' in the case.

He later tempered his declaration by saying, 'I would hope that is is.'

Heartbroken and hopeful: Hannah with her brother, James, mother, Sue and father, John. The Graham's issued a joint statement on Tuesday saying they are hopeful Hannah will be found

With friends: Hannah with a group of friends who have all described her disappearance as extremely uncharacteristic

On Thursday night, thousands gathered for a vigil in the University of Virginia Amphitheater in honor of Graham.

Students held candles and played music, all with one message: bring Graham home.

In a statement released through the police, parents John and Susan Graham, said: 'Hannah is beyond precious to us, and we are devastated by her disappearance. It is totally out of character for us not to have heard from her, and we fear foul play.'

The huge search for Hannah Graham involving hundreds of volunteers from across Virginia was still underway on Saturday.

Authorities have said they do not know why she texted her friends at 1.20am on September 12 to say she was lost near to the UVA campus — an area she knows very well.

Hannah was last seen by friends at Camden Plaza Apartments, in Charlottesville at 11.50pm on Friday night at a party with another male friend and police have said she was heavily intoxicated.

At 1.20am, friends waiting at a party for the student got a text from her saying that she was lost in the area around 14th and Wertland Streets, which is near the student;s own off-campus home.

Surveillance footage released on Wednesday places her half-a-mile away at the Charlottesville downtown mall just 20 minutes before the text.

The 5'11' softball player, whose parents are English, was wearing black pants and a gold top that had black mesh cut outs on the evening she went missing a week and a day ago.

Confusion: This map shows Hannah Graham's movements on the night of Friday 12 and Saturday 13. At 11.50pm she was seen at a party by friends with another male friend. She then seemed to head westward toward the Charlottesville downtown mall

Crucial: The last footage of Hannah is from approximately 30 minutes before she called her friends to say she was lost

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Jesse 'LJ' Matthew claims he did NOT drive off with missing Hannah Graham